Thursday, 4 December 2014

So as we creep towards the end of the year, I wanted to say a huge thank you to all those who have shown an interest in my work this year. It has been a fab 12 months with numerous highlights, most notably being the Pub Scrawl, where I was able to indulge myself in my donkey installation. Sheffield Print Fair 2014 was pretty darn special too!I have one final new print of the year to show you, which is 'Sheffield City View No.5'. It is a hand-pressed linocut, of a view of Abbeydale/Nether Edge from Chesterfield Road. The print is a little taller than many of my other cityscapes, as I thought it fitted the composition. Hope you like it! It is now available in my Folksy shop, and at the various fairs/markets I'm taking part in.

The Harley Gallery Christmas MarketSat 29th / Sun 30th Nov 2014, The Welbeck Estate,Welbeck, Worksop, S80 3LW, 10am-5pmI'm very happy indeed to have been asked back to this event after taking part last year. It is like a really impressive art fair crossed with a food market. What is not to like!?Sheffield Makers FairSat 6th Dec 2014, St Mary's Church & Conference Centre, Bramall Lane, Sheffield, 10am-4pmThis will be their first event, and it is focussing on he work of contemporary designer-makers from the region. They have a pretty impressive line-up for this one, so should be good!

My last event of the season, and it should be a busy one! The place is always buzzing with people.NEW WORKSYou might have noticed that I have more than a passing interest in screen-printing. In the last few months I've been working on some designs, and I have a couple of new prints to show you (which I printed at the wonderful Sheffield Print Club).Firstly there is 'Hello Red Donkey'. A simple celebration of the creature, essentially. It is a two/three-colour print, in an edition of 23. The size is around 24x32cm, and the paper is 35x50cm. It is printed on 280gsm natural cartridge paper.

and secondly, there is 'Pebble Study No.1'. This is the first print from an occasional new series I'm working on, of a more abstract nature.

It is a three-colour print, 22x36cm (paper 30x42cm) in an edition of just ten, and again printed on 280gsm cartridge paper.Both prints will be available from event I'm attending over he next month or so, and soon in my Folksy shop.

and finally, I have a new seasonal greeting card. I like to produce a new one each year. It is called 'Winter Houses', and only available from events I will be taking part in before the end of the year.

Thursday, 25 September 2014

Well, when I say storm, I really mean Christmas. Not that it is a bad time of year or anything, just a very busy one!

PUB SCRAWL

August was a lot of fun, Pub Scrawl especially. I was amazed how many people came along and enjoyed my 'donkey-installation'. The people running the Bath Hotel were super-helpful too, and made me feel right at home. I wrote an article for the Folksy blog if you'd like to read and see more pics, but I also made a wee film of my wooden donkeys here:

The wooden/MDF donkey are now for sale, as is the 'Pub Donkeys' 3-colour screen-print I produced. Money from the sales are going to the Donkey Sanctuary charity in Sidmouth. Only 20 screen-prints were produced, and there are only about 7 left. All of the small donkeys have been sold, and I have a limited number of the larger donkeys left. They are all listed on my Folksy shop:

NEW WORKSI have one new linocut to show you. It is of a goose I came across whilst at the wonderful Yorkshire Sculpture Park. It is a two-colour linocut print, printed on A3-size paper, and is called 'Greylag Goose'.

EVENTSI've no events coming up in October (the calm), but will report in my next blog about November/December happenings, including Sheffield Print Fair, The Harley Gallery and many more....

EVENTSWirksworth Festival, DerbyshireSat 6th/Sun 7th September 2014, 10am-5pmThis looks like a lot of fun. For this weekend during the festival the small town of Wirksworth in Derbyshire turns into a busy arts trail. Lots of artists get to display and sell their work in peoples homes and other locations, and for this year my location will be the Little Wonders Day Nursery (16 Coldwell Street, Wirksworth, Derbyshire DE4 4FB).

Makers' Fair, SaltaireSat 13th September 2014, Victoria Hall, Saltaire BD18 3JS, 10am-5pmThe Saltaire Makers Fair in 2013 was my favourite event of the year, so I'm very much looking forward to heading back there for this! Top quality art and craft, beautiful location and friendly people. What more could you ask for?EXHIBITIONS

Pub ScrawlSunday 31st August 2014, 4pm-11pm, various locations, SheffieldI'm currently very busy preparing for this, and feel very flattered to have been asked to take part. This is the second 'Pub Scrawl', and is organised by the 'Month Of Sundays' gallery in the city. In brief, 10 artists get given a pub each in Sheffield city centre, and they have to create in installation within the pub. It takes place on one-night-only on Sunday 31st August, and people can try and visit all the pubs, or take their pick. There is also a ticketed guided tour, but this has now sold out. My pub is the (lovely) Bath Hotel and my installation is top secret! Other artists include Nick Deakin/Tom J Newell, India Hobson, Jonathan Wilkinson, Studio Binky, Pete Mckee and 65 Days of Static.

I have also completed this year's design for the Folk Forestfestival. It is a great music festival that has taken place since 2010 in Sheffield, as part of the city-wide Tramlines Festival. This year's festival happens on 26th/27th July 2014. Each year I produce a limited souvenir poster-print limited to 100 copies and here is the 2014 version:

If there are any copies left after the weekend, I will put them in my Folksy shop.EVENTS

The Summer Fete - Buxton Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, DerbyshireSat 19th/Sun 20th July 2014, 10am-5pm, free entryLooking forward to heading back to the grand pavilion in Buxton again, for this two-day event. Artisan food and drink and arts & crafts. It is taking place on the same weekend as the Great Dome Art Fair in Buxton too!

The Folk Forest Fair - Endcliffe Park, SheffieldSat 26th/Sun 27th July 2014, 10am-7pm, free entry'The Folk Forest' is now an established part of the Tramlines Festival in Sheffield each year. Set in the beautiful Endcliffe Park, it is a family-friendly music festival, with a nod towards the more folk/acoustic end of the musical spectrum. There are loads of activities too, as well as real ale, organic food and an 'arts/crafts/vintage fair'. I'll be taking part in the fair, along with another 30-or-so stallholders.

Yorkshire In YellowI'm currently taking part in an exhibition to celebrate the Tour De France coming through Yorkshire, entitled 'Yorkshire In Yellow'. Each contributor has created some cycling-based artwork to be displayed on yellow jerseys hung in the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield. It runs from 31st May until 7th September 2014.

Pub Scrawl 2014I'm chuffed to have been asked to take part in 'Pub Scrawl 2014'. In basic terms, ten artists are given ten pubs in Sheffield in which to install some brand-new art. It is an Arts Council funded project organised by 'A Month Of Sundays' gallery, based in Sheffield and takes place for one night only on 31st August 2014! Other artists involved include Pete Mckee, Jonathan Wilkinson, India Hobson and musicians 65 Days Of Static. I have all sorts of plans up my sleeves, which I'm keeping very quiet about for now. I'll keep you posted...

Wednesday, 21 May 2014

Not a very long update here, but just to let you know about a couple of new works and a few event's I'm taking part in over the next month or so:

FAIRS/MARKETS

Garden UpOn Sat 7th and Sun 8th June I'm taking part in a new event called 'Garden Up' in the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield. It is primarily a gardening event, aiming to 'showcase the very best talent from the worlds of horticulture, architecture, landscape and design'. I will be showing/selling my work in the 'Arts and Crafts' marquee.

Art Market - HolmfirthI'm going to be at the Art Market in Holmfirth on Sunday 22nd June 2014. I've done this event a few times now, and it is always great, and full of really wonderful art and crafts!

EXHIBITIONSYorkshire In Yellow Firstly, I'm taking part in a new exhibition to celebrate the Tour De France coming through Yorkshire, entitled 'Yorkshire In Yellow'. Each contributor has created some cycling-based artwork to be displayed on yellow jerseys hung in the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield. It runs from 31st May until 7th September 2014.

Printing Sheffield Also at the Millennium Galleries, the 'Printing Sheffield' exhibition continues. It is simply focusing on the best printmaking from the region, and will run until 15th June 2014. There are quite a few other artists taking part, including Kid Acne, EMA, Jo Peel, We Live Here, Neil Woodall and Leaf City Press. It is free and well worth a visit, and a lot of artists have work for sale in the shop as well as the exhibition. I have three pieces there, including two special limited edition donkey prints.

Broomhill Festival Shortly after this, I have an exhibition as part of the 2014 Broomhill Festival in St Marks Church, Broomhill, Sheffield. I will be exhibiting a selection of my hand-printed landscapes and animal prints, alongside painter John Brokenshire from 14th June until 22nd June 2014. NEW WORKSWell, I'm afraid my 'Sheffield City View No.4' A2 screen-print has sold out. I was hoping it'd be popular, but didn't expect it to go so quickly! However it will be returning as an A3 poster-print quite soon.Speaking of screen-prints, while I was taking part in 'Open Up Sheffield 2014' at Sheffield Print Club, I got the chance to have a go at creating a new print using this method (with the kind assistance of Jane there!). I made a new version of my 'Gambolling' print, using two colours on grey Somerset paper. I have created a very small edition of 10, which are now for sale in my Folksy shop.

I have also created a new Whitby print, entitled 'Whitby No.3'(imaginatively). It is the third of my prints from the town, and probably my last for a while. It is a view from the steps leading down from the abbey, looking across to the left. The small clock-tower really stuck in my head, so I tried to make it the centre of the image, although there is clearly a lot else happening too! It is also now available in my Folksy shop, in an edition of 100.

Finally, I have two new cyclist prints the first is a new A3 poster-print version of my 'Cyclist' print, printed in the Yorkshire colours, to commemorate the tour De France passing through this region in the Summer. It is is only available from the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield in an edition of 30 copies.

The second is a brand-new A3 cyclist poster-print, entitled 'Cyclist No.2', and this time it is a female cyclist, taking it a little more leisurely, but serious about her bike, nonetheless! It is also available in my Folksy shop in two colour schemes..

Monday, 24 March 2014

I've been a little slack with blog updates recently. I can only blame the weather, the cat, or something, or maybe it was just me being slack...Yep, thats right.Where shall I start? apologies for the length of this post, but I've a lot to cram in...New events, lots of new prints, an exhibition I'm part of, and learning to throw pots! Here goes...

I was flattered to be chosen to contribute in a new exhibition entitled 'Printing Sheffield' at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, based on contemporary printmakers who live and work in the city. The exhibition runs until the end of June, and I have three works on display (including my Sheffield City View No.4 linocut/screenprint). Other artists include We Live Here, EMA, Kid Acne, Jo Peel, Neil Woodall, Sam Groom, Zoe Badger, Nick Deakin and Leaf City Press, so I'm in very good company! I highly recommend a visit if you are passing...POTTERY WORKSHOPIn February I booked on a workshop to learn how to do pottery, on a potter's wheel. I've always been fascinated with this art/craft, but never had the chance to have a go. So, after Christmas I decided to treat myself and book onto a two-day workshop with Sheffield ceramicist Penny Withers. She is based in Yorkshire Artspace, in a nice big studio. there were three of us booked in for the weekend, but I was the only one who had never tried pottery before. I had visions of The Generation Game, with clay flying everywhere, and very wonky looking pots! Penny showed us how to make a basic vessel to begin with, and other shapes later on. She made it look so easy. It was very hypnotic watching someone with such skills at work. So then I had a go. I had in my mind to try and make a series of very simple vessels, mostly small, with some tapering. I had no plans for handles or spouts or such practical additions. It surprised me how much strength you needed to use to centre the clay and then make it rise. I had one wobbly effort, but the rest seem to come out ok (with a little help from Penny). She was a great tutor, allowing us to do whatever we wanted to, and always on hand for advice or help. The two days flew by, and I managed to make 12 (!). By the end I felt I'd got the hang of the basic process, and was somehwat in control of my vessels. They need glazing next, but I haven't done this yet. I'll post up some more pics when they're complete. I had such a good time. I HIGHLY recommend it!! If anyone is interested on booking on one of Penny's courses go to her website: http://www.pennywithersceramics.co.uk

and thats about it...phew! Apologies for the length...I'll try and make sure i blog more regularly...

Monday, 3 February 2014

Yep, my (one and only) tv appearance on Portrait Artist Of The Year 2013 is now available to watch on youtube. The series was broadcast on Sky Arts in November 2013, so only people with Sky TV could watch it, but now everyone can watch me squirm on the tele!

Thursday, 9 January 2014

Hello peopleI have just completed work on a new print that I've been working on for a while, and I thought I'd mention it here. It is my fourth Sheffield city view, but this time I wanted it to be be a little different. I wanted to print it larger than I do normally, but still as a hand-printed edition, and I wanted to put in a lot of detail, and obviously linocut isn't really made for tiny features, so it had to go bigger!

I had an idea about creating a two-colour print somewhere between A3 and A2 size, but doing this by normal linocut printing would take an awful long time, and would be pretty tricky too. So, on this occasion, I decided to produce it as a linocut, then turn it into a screenprint and have the edition printed this way. I'm a total novice at screenprinting, so I got my pal Ed of Bradbury & Blanchard studios in Sheffield to help with the latter part. Here are a selection of photos from the journey from linocut to screenprint!

And here is the final print

The print will be available as part of the 'Printing Sheffield' exhibition at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield from 29th January 2914, and also in my Folksy shop. Hope you like it!

About Me

Brief Biography

I've been producing printed artwork for perhaps the last 14 years. In 2010 I decided to go full-time as an artist, and I'm still at it! I specialise in linocuts and screen-prints.

I graduated with a degree in Fine Art in 1995, specialising in photography (for no other reason than I didn't really enjoy painting or sculpture), and then spent the next few years in dead-end jobs and being unemployed, fighting with thousands of other arts graduates for the rare art-related jobs that appeared.

Eventually I worked in a few (non art-related) decent jobs, and then discovered print-making. It was a revelation to me. A way of creating art that felt physical and quite a challenge!

I'm inspired by the graphic quality of printmaking, and the way you can say a lot with very little. Artist-wise I'm inspired by people like Goya, Stanley Spencer, Max Beckmann and Egon Schiele. All quite direct artists. More contemporary people I like are the artist/graphic novelist Chris Ware, Kid Acne, illustrator Jonathan Wilkinson and cartoonist/writer Elodie Ginsbourg.

So I've been doing it ever since, and now spend all my time working on it (aside from the time spent being a musician - my other passion).

I've had a little success along the way being shortlisted in 2006 for the International Small Print Competition for my work 'Paris Buggy' and taking part in the 'Portrait Artist Of The Year' and 'Landscape Artist Of The Year' TV shows in 2013/2015 (reaching the semi-final in the latter). I've also produced commissions for people like Paul Smith Menswear,The Hepworth Wakefield, Sheffield Children's Festival, The Folk Forest music festival and Domino Records.

I sell my work via my Folksy shop, my NOTHS shop, to various shops and galleries around the UK, and also at various Art/Craft Markets.

I also have a facebook page too. Please come along and become a fan if you like my stuff!